Disillusionment
by Ravyn
Summary: James Potter proves to one Lily Evans that she can trust him – at least with her life... Sort of.
1. Sixth Year: 1

Alright. This is crack. Do not think it is anything other than that. I blame Some_Scribbles completely for it even getting this far. Completely. And I blame my twin for the idea ever hitting my head. She sent me a picture from deviant art (you can see the link on my profile) that inspired this story. I haven't read Deathly Hollows so the odds that some of what I have written does not match are likely. Researched as best I was able but glossed a few things over, obviously.

Best consider this some strange mix of AU and Cannon.

Again, this was written for fun and it mostly (completely) crack.

**After the story, there are some notes that I have made to explain some of the choices I made while writing this particular one-shot.**

A big thank you to Vashka_Kat who made sure I didn't screw up something simple. She is completely and utterly the best, ever.

Ravyn

Disclaimer: Do not own any characters in Harry Potter.

Warnings: Beside the crack? Some swearing, some violence, some lime.

* * *

"So what's the score?" Sirius Black demanded as he flopped down, hand already moving to fill plate full of eggs while he stuffed a piece of bacon into his mouth.

"Terrible," Remus Lupin murmured. "We're losing again."

Sirius held up his fork and pointed it like a wand. "There ain't no 'we' here, Moony."

Remus rolled his eyes and shoveled more egg into his mouth, his shoulder lifting in a clear 'what can you do' motion. Sirius eyed Peter Pettigrew for a moment before turning back to his friend. James Potter was half-slouched against the table rolling something round between his fingers. Stuffing another piece of bacon into his mouth, Sirius studied the narrowed eyed expression and tried to swallow before he started laughing.

"Has she…" He made motion with fork that sent scrambled eggs rolling across the table.

"Evans hasn't bothered to even look up this morning. Apparently whatever she is eating for breakfast is fascinating," Remus said as he lifted his cup.

Sirius grimaced. "Cold man."

"I'm sitting right here." James informed them without changing his posture.

Remus snorted. "You're sitting _there_, Prongs, but you aren't sitting_ here_."

James turned, brow arching over narrowed eyes. He had shoved the brims of his glasses down again. "What?"

"Food." Sirius said, firmly. "Eat. Tell him to eat, Wormtail. He might listen to you."

Peter swallowed. "Does he actually listen to people when Evans is around?"

Remus looked thoughtful, "Fifty-fifty chance."

James made a noise in his throat and reached for a sausage without moving his head. Taking a bite, he chewed deliberately. "Happy?"

"Clearly we need to change tactics." Peter muttered. "Padfoot?"

"Don't ask me. I don't want to know what's going around in the head of a witch who manages to ignore _that_ stare." Sirius grinned widely. "If it was me, I'd be all flustered."

"You've never been flustered in your life," Remus pointed out just as the chimes signaling fifteen minutes to class started. "But it's probably just practice. She's become immune."

"Exactly," Peter grumbled as he grabbed a piece of toast, "why we need to change tactics."

"Final score?" Sirius asked as he scooped up his work bag.

"Whose point scale are we using this morning?" Peter questioned.

"You were here first."

"Then it's probably best if we don't talk about it." Sirius said cheerfully. Slinging his arm around James shoulders, he dragged him out of the great hall.

"You'll see her in transfiguration."

James shrugged him off. "Oh, shut up."

X

"He's gone." Alice Prewett murmured, eyes dancing as Lily Evans finally looked up from her plate. Lily grimaced, setting her fork down.

"Finally. One more mouthful of eggs and I might have exploded."

Alice snorted, gathering her things. "Try sausage next time then."

Lily pulled a face. "I think I'll stick to the eggs."

Alice shrugged, reaching up to shove the short strands of her dark hair out of her eyes. "Whatever. It's your stomach and we have potions next. How lovely is that?"

Lily groaned and picked up her pace. "I think he does these things on purpose."

"I know he does these things on purpose," Alice corrected with a laugh. "The question becomes what _is_ the purpose behind these little staring matches."

"Probably just trying to over inflate his ego."

"Lily! The man doesn't need you for that!" Alice was really laughing now. "He has so many other adoring fans. I think it's time we look at this from a different angle."

"Like what?"

"That perhaps he _does_ in fact like you."

Lily stopped dead, forcing a first year to dodge around her as she stared at her friend. "What?"

Alice switch her book bag to her other shoulder, dark eyes dancing. "Why not? If what's-his-name from Ravenclaw had spent a fraction of the time staring at you, you'd have already gone to Hogsmeade with him."

Lily spluttered. "But… that's… _Potter_!"

"I am aware of his last name."

"You cannot be serious." She compressed her lips, green eyes narrowed. "You know how I feel about him."

"I know a lot of things, but I've never really been sure about that…"

"Alice!"

"Shall we look at the facts? Fourth year, he asked you out on a weekly basis. Fifth year, he shifted to a monthly basis and outright flattery. We're going into our Sixth year, and he seems to be stalking you with his eyes."

"Stalking should be taken as the keyword in that sentence."

"Oh, stuff it, Lily." The second chime started and both girls turned to hurry the rest of the way to the dungeon. "We do know at least one thing."

"What?" Lily's glance was weary.

"It doesn't appear that he is going to give up."

X

James curled his fingers around the sugar quill in his pocket. Half-slouched behind a small enclave, he was hardly noticed by the crush of students moving between classes back to the Great Hall for lunch. A small smile touched the edges of his mouth as a familiar head of red hair moved in his direction. Adjusting his posture, he calculated the flow of bodies and slid in.

She wasn't even aware of his presence until he slipped her book bag off her shoulder and onto his own, keeping himself half a step behind her startled form so that no one crashed into her.

"Lily."

"Potter," green eyes narrowed at the edges and her lips compressed. "What do you want?"

_Look innocent… look innocent… _

"Lunch?"

Green eyes narrowed further so he tried for unassuming. When it was clear that she wasn't going for that, he gave up all pretenses and smiled at her, hooking his fingers above her elbow and pulling lightly.

"You're not hungry?" He slid his gaze over to her. "I suppose you did eat a hefty, healthy breakfast this morning."

"Oh?" Her voice was dripping in sweetness and it made him want… well, there were lots of people in the hall. "You were there?"

His smile deepened at the corners. "Now that's not nice, Lily, pretending that you didn't notice me trying to get your attention all morning."

"Please try to reign in your ego, Potter. I have to breathe at some point between now and the Great Hall."

James laughed and smiled down at her releasing her arm to tug on her hair. "Is that so?"

Lily scowled up at him, swatting at his hand as they entered the Great Hall. "You better not be using me as a shield for some prank, Potter."

James pressed his hand over his heart. "I'm hurt, Evans. Can't a bloke just want to spend time with you?"

"No. Give me back my books and go away."

"Are you sure? I'd be happy to sit with you today."

"Potter! There isn't any reason that I am going to want to ruin a perfectly good lunch by sitting with you. _Ever_."

James kept his smile and pulled her book bag away from his shoulder to hand it back. He supposed he had pushed enough today but…

Leaning down he made a point to catch her eyes. She was just short enough that he had to tip his head to be at her level. Keeping his voice low so not to be completely overheard by the curious ears attempting to listen in from all directions. "If you say so, Evans. If you say so."

It took a little work, but he managed not to saunter back to where Remus and Sirius were waiting for him. Remus was shaking his head, at least pretending that he wasn't amused. Sirius was chewing noisily, showing off a half-chewed sandwich.

"Ambushing now?"

James shrugged as he slid into his seat, reaching for the pumpkin juice. "You're the one who suggested that I change tactics."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I think that was Wormtail… so you _do_ actually hear us when we talk. I was starting to wonder."

Sirius swallowed. "I'm thinking you're still behind on points today."

James shrugged, unconcerned. "You didn't see her expression."

"The one where she is clearly debating how many ways to curse you?" Peter asked as he slid onto the bench, face flushed from his sprint.

James grinned, eyes cutting back over to where Lily was eating with her friends. "The one that said she noticed me."

"Ha!" Sirius said with an eye roll. "You said that in Third year. And Fourth year. And even in Fifth year!"

James shrugged, taking a bite a large bite out of his sandwich. Remus stared at him before shrugging and turning the conversation to the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend.

X

Lily stared hard at Alice. The smaller girl was slumped over her plate in an attempt to stifle her giggles.

"I don't find it amusing."

Alice nodded without looking up, one arm wrapping around her middle. She was making little hiccuping noises and Lily crossed her arms, scowling. "Alice!"

She finally managed to wipe her eyes, body vibrating with the effort to control herself. "I'm sorry!"

"No you're not."

Alice's mouth trembled but she gulped down air and held. "I'm not laughing at you per se, Lily. I'm… it's just, he's so _dramatic_!"

Lily stared at her, lips thinning.

"Dramatic? That's all you can say? _He is dramatic_?"

Alice waved her hands. "No, well, _yes_ but no! I just… he _likes_ you!"

Lily stared at her, expression flummoxed and Alice started laughing all over again.

"I cannot believe this," Lily growled, stabbing a green bean with her fork. "Potter ambushes me in the hallway and all my best friend can do is laugh."

A body filled the space next to Lily and she turned to find Amelia Bones, flushed from the dash to the hall. "What'd I miss?"

Alice pointed a finger at Lily. "P-P-Potter."

Lily stabbed another green bean.

"Potter?" Amelia repeated. "What has he done this time?"

Alice sucked in a lungful of air. "Likes Lily."

Amelia rolled her eyes and selected a turkey sandwich. "Oh, I thought this was supposed to be a new topic of conversation."

Lily stared at her. "Not you too!"

Amelia shrugged. "I studied for OWLS with Remus, remember? Potter's been mad over you for years. I'm just amazed it took you this long to figure it out. What did he do?"

Lily sat in her chair, mouth open before she sat up straight and hissed. "What?"

Amelia leaned back, blinking. "Oh please, don't get all offended on me. It's not like you like him _back_ or anything."

Lily spluttered.

"That's what I thought." She said cheerfully. Leaning forward, she waved at the other end of the table. "It's not like anything is going to change. The boy can go on worshiping the ground you walk on, you go on hating his guts and neither of you sneak off to snog with each other in a broom closet."

Lily frowned at her. "If I didn't know better I'd say you wanted me to sneak off and snog him in a broom closet."

"I'd suggest making him earn it a little more first. It's not like he's actually come out and said that he thinks your fabulous – or you know, attempted to ask you out. Or catch your attention. Closet stalker, that one." Amelia said around a mouthful of sandwich.

Alice smile was huge. "_Yeah_, Lily."

Lily set her fork down and reached for her book bag, expression tense. "I think you two matchmakers are forgetting something."

"Oh?"

"Yes." Settling it back over her shoulder, she stood. "Potter represents everything I _despise_. He doesn't take anything seriously unless it can be used in a prank, he completely disrespects any authority figure and he spent the last five years making me _miserable_."

Amelia sighed. "People change, Lily."

"You think I don't know that?" Lily said quietly, eyes flickering to the Slytherin table. Then she shrugged and turned to leave. "I won't date man I can't respect."

Alice waited until Lily was out of hearing range before leaning forward and peering at the group further down the row. Potter was staring at the doors, a look on his face that was usually saved for his more devious pranks.

"Whatcha thinking, Amelia?"

"Hmm?"

"About him. And Lily."

"I'm thinking there isn't any him and Lily… but that there might be."

Alice turned back to her. "Oh? What changed your mind?"

Amelia tapped her fingers on the table. "Just a hunch."

"A hunch?"

Amelia just grinned and Alice rolled her eyes.

"So we stay out of it?"

"Probably better that way. More fun to watch him stumble over his own two feet, don't you think? Besides… she's right. You can't date a man you can't respect. Boy has got to earn it if he wants a chance."

Alice's expression turned grim, gaze moving to the Daily Prophet slung over her bag. "Especially now."

"_Especially_ now."

X

"So what's the plan?"

Sirius chewed on his sugar quill, expression thoughtful. "Hmmm… Hogsmeade weekend… the possibilities…"

Remus shot him a look and then looked back at the Transfiguration book sprawled in his lap. "Yes. I know. Which avenue of possibilities are we exploring today, Padfoot?"

Peter sighed and looked up from a Charms essay. "Do you think we are going to have time for our usual number of pranks this year?"

James rolled up into a sitting position, looking horrified. "We always have time for pranks."

"Except for when we _don't_."

"But this isn't that time!" James declared before smiling. "It's not even Halloween yet."

"But…"

"No buts, Wormtail." James flopped back down. "Sirius?"

"We've already hit the Slytherin dorm once this year." His tone was thoughtful. "And of course, there is the added difficulty of the Head Boy being from our illustrious house and so _disapproving_…"

Remus looked up from his book. "So you don't have anything?"

"Not a bloody, rotten thing. It's amazing what advanced runes do to my brain. I go in with an idea I come out with a headache."

"We all come out with a headache," James reminded him. "It's the purpose of the class."

Peter grinned. "Here I thought the purpose was to see a certain redhead."

"I wasn't aware you had a thing for redheads…" James remarked, eyes narrowing.

"Something we should know, Wormtail?" Sirius asked.

"Evans looked distracted today, wouldn't you say?" Remus tossed in; trying to avoid the brawl he could feel building.

"She did, didn't she? Which means my master plan is working."

"Or she is plotting five was to dismember you."

James scoffed and waved his hand. "It's just a matter of time."

"Then what?"

"Huh?"

Sirius grunted. "Yeah, what exactly are you going to do once you catch her? You've been trying for three bloody long years and gotten nothing. If you do actually managed… then what?"

James was silent and then he grinned. "Keep her."

"Can we please talk about something besides Evans?" Peter demanded, looking annoyed. "We have a Hogsmeade weekend coming up."

"We go to Hogsmeade all the time." Sirius reminded him, looking bored. "Which reminds me; we're out of butterbeer and fire whiskey."

"Tragic." James commented.

"Terribly," Remus agreed, rolling his eyes. "So besides refilling our stash…"

"We can pick up the normal." James said finally. "That way we have the basics on hand. We can always do an emergency run later. What we really should be thinking about is how we can incorporate our own spells into whatever the Head Boy and Girl do at the Halloween feast. They're going to be expecting something big this year and I do hate to disappoint."

Sirius pulled the sugar quill out of his mouth. "That's true. It's our sixth year after all. We need to make it big."

Peter frowned. "Last year was pretty impressive."

"To do any of this we're going to need the Head's plans for the feast." Remus reminded them. "Which after last year's fiasco, are going to be difficult to get."

Peter scowled. "That wasn't my fault."

"If you say so Wormtail… This would be so much easier if you were already shagging Perfect Prefect Evans, Prongs."

James launched a pillow at Sirius' head. "When have we ever done things the easy way?"

"I don't mind," Peter protested. "No need to make this unnecessarily complicated."

"So…" Remus said finally. "Any ideas?"

X

"How'd the meeting go?"

Lily sighed, fingers hovering over the books she was stuffing into her book bag. She desperately needed to work in a Charms essay and the library was the only place quite enough at this time of night. She had taken off her heavy, outer robes leaving behind the standard school uniform and loosened tie.

"Alright. Everyone's nervous."

Alice let out a long breath. "So they _are_ starting to take him seriously?"

Lily pursed her lips. "There are going to be some suggestions made about muggle-borns staying here over the holidays."

Alice's eyes went wide. "That's quite the escalation."

Lily nodded and fidgeted. "Yeah. Look, I've got a paper to write for Runes. Can we talk about this later?"

"Sure… hey, Lily. I've been wondering…" She hesitated and then jumped in. "Do you hate him?"

"Hate who?"

"Potter."

Lily made a noise. "Why are you bringing this up?"

Alice rolled onto her back and studied her. "Because you need to know."

Lily lifted a brow, turning to plant her fist on her hip. "_I _need to know."

"Yes."

"Why do I need to know?"

"Because one day, you're going to have to either break his heart or give him hope. Stringing him along like this isn't fair." Her smile turned mischievous. "Give the rest of the girls a chance with him."

"I'm not stringing him along!" Lily protested, eyes flashing. "I have always told him exactly how I feel about him and when has he ever had trouble finding girls?"

"So how do you feel about him?"

Lily opened her mouth and then closed it. Yesterday she would have said that she despised him and she still did. Just thinking about him made her want to pull out her hair. But this afternoon, that expression behind his eyes…

"Right now, a whole lot of irritation."

Alice snorted. "That's not an answer. You always feel irritation towards something, but that's just a surface emotion."

"I am not having a heart to heart with you about _Potter_."

Alice _hmmed_ and waved a hand. "Still… you at least think he's cute right? All that quiddich muscle and those hands…"

"Why don't _you_ date him?"

"Nah. I have plans. His name is Frank. He might not take it well."

Lily tossed her bag over her shoulder relieved at the chance to change the subject. Discussing James Potter while being off balance thanks to this afternoon was making her uneasy; she just needed a chance to find solid footing again. "The cute seventh year?"

"Yeah…" her tone was dreamy. "We're going to get a butterbeer together."

"Still want to hit up Honeydukes with me?"

"You're on."

"Good. I'll be back later; I've got to get a couple feet of this essay finished."

"Don't worry. I won't stay up."

Lily shook her head.

The trip to the library was uneventful, even if she did have to give up her favorite table because Severus was already there. The gaping hole that used to be friendship hurt, but it had started to numb over the summer and now it just ached. After the last incident with Black and Potter… some things took work on both sides. She had stopped attempting to bridge the growing gap between them. Some things you just couldn't over look and his unwillingness to maintain friendship regardless of her blood _hurt_. So she found herself at a table near one of the back walls, pouring over Charms notes in the hopes of getting through the homework in one night instead of two. With the trip to Hogsmeade, she wanted to be able to enjoy the day instead of worrying about how she was going to finish essays.

"That's a look."

Lily jerked, her quill scraping across her scroll. Head shooting up, she found herself staring at a relaxed, amused James Potter. His hair was falling into his eyes and he had untucked his shirt and loosened his tie; the overly mused appearance was nothing new but something about the angle of his eyes made her heart pound. Frowning severely at him, she reached for her wand.

"Do you want something Potter or are you here just to annoy me?"

He pushed away from the bookshelf and turned a chair backwards, crossing his arms over the top and settling his chin against it. "Haven't we known each other long enough for you to call me James?"

Lily blew her bangs out of her eyes and muttered a quick spell to correct the error on the scroll. "No."

"Pity," he sighed.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, but he didn't seem bothered with it. Picking her quill back up, she lowered her eyes to her paper.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

"It's a library, Lily. Do I really need a reason to sit here?"

"Since it's a library, Potter, I don't need to explain the rules, do I?"

Lily was relieved when he said nothing and forced herself to worry about magical laws as she finished the point she had started before she had been interrupted. It didn't take long before she was lost in the homework and a foot later she set her quill down with a sigh, reaching up to rub the back of her neck.

"Finished?"

Lily froze, looking up. "You're still here?"

The left side of his mouth curled upwards. "I believe I am."

"Why?"

"You seem to ask me that question a lot." James teased. "Almost as if you believe I have ulterior motives?"

A smile twitched at the corner of her lips. "You do have ulterior motives Potter. It's just a matter of figuring them out."

"I'm not as difficult to figure out as you seem to think, Evans."

She blinked at him, startled by his tone. "I'm sorry?"

He pushed himself up and stretched, arms curling over his head until his vertebrae popped. "You think too much. Just because I don't have any intention of giving up on you does not make me an idiot, regardless of what you think of me."

Lily frowned. "I don't necessarily respect you or your use of magic, Potter, but I've never said you lacked intelligence." '_Just the ability to use that intelligence for more than stupid pranks._'

James lowered his head and his eyes gleamed at her from behind his frames. "Really? Because that isn't the impression that I have; this isn't just some habit."

It was clear that she wasn't going to get any more work done _here_ so she began gathering her things. This was not a conversation she wanted to have. "Really, now…"

Long fingers rough with the calluses earned as a Chaser covered hers as she reached for her last book. She turned, startled to find him staring down at her with the same determined expression from the hallway that afternoon.

"Do I make you nervous?"

_Of all the_… she lifted her chin and glared at him. "No."

"Good."

Then his free hand was curled around her jaw and his other was sliding up her arm and over her shoulder as his mouth pressed against hers. Lily's hip bumped against the table as she moved back in surprise, but he followed, pressing against her lightly as he kept her in place. Her heart hammered in her ears, but he made no move to deepen the kiss _or_ let go.

So she found herself staying there, caught between James Potter's hands as he kissed her in the library at her least favorite table – until he pulled back with a ragged breath. She was startled to find herself breathing deeply, one hand tangled in his tie, the other curled tightly around a book. Her lips burned and when he pulled his hand away from her cheek (the other gliding down her neck) she found she had nothing to say.

"I'll see you later, then." Her stomach lurched at the way the corners of his mouth had deepened – was that mischief or relief or something else? – and he slid his hand through his messy hair and turned away.

Her fingers went slack and the book tumbled back onto the table.

_Oh bloody hells_.

James Potter had just kissed her…

And _she let him_.

X

"What do you think that stupid grin means?" Peter murmured, staring at the cards in his hand.

"Who cares?" Sirius hissed. "He's lost the last two rounds and I want his Arithmacy notes."

Remus looked up, frowning. "You're not even taking that class."

"I can sell 'em."

"You're not getting my notes, Padfoot." James warned as he took a card.

"You keep losing like that and I will." He countered, looking pleased. "You're handwriting is neat enough I can probably pawn them off as being from Ravenclaw."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Like anyone will believe you."

Sirius made a noise. "There is quite the black market for dropped Ravenclaw notes!"

Peter set a card down and leaned away from the pile. "Dropped?"

Sirius widened his eyes. "Are you suggesting I'm a thief?"

"Yes." James said cheerfully.

"I'm hurt."

"If you keep sneaking cards into your sleeve," Remus said firmly, "You're going to be dealing with a more physical type of pain."

"The betrayal!" Sirius moaned.

James snorted and set his cards down. "I win."

"Bloody hell."

Remus frowned at his cards. "That should have been impossible."

James smiled. "What can I say? This is my lucky day."

Peter squinted at him. "Is that lipstick?"

James lifted a brow. "What?"

"_There_… no, I guess not."

Sirius leaned forward. "No, but that expression… Prongs! Off making out with someone tonight were we? Giving up on the fair Evans at last?"

"Hardly."

Remus remained frozen before reaching out. "Pay up."

Sirius looked appalled. "For what?"

"The bet. Pay up."

Peter frowned, "the only bet we have right now…"

"Oh bloody hells, you kissed Evans?" Sirius looked torn between delight and horror. "Couldn't you have waited until after Halloween?"

"Tomorrow's Hogsmeade!" Peter whined. "Now what am I supposed to spend."

"I'll buy you a chocolate frog." Remus promised, wiggling his fingers. "Now hand it over."

James shook his head, reshuffling the deck.

"So, Prongs…"

"No, I'm not lending you any money to pay off a bet you had against me." James said firmly.

"Bullocks."

"So?" Remus asked as he started arranging his cards.

"So what?"

"How the hell was it man!"

James looked up at the three curious faces. "You expect me to kiss and tell?"

"You'd better believe it." Sirius said firmly. "We've had to listen to you whine about Evans for years and now it's time for some payback. How was she?"

"No."

Peter slouched over his cards. "Well, it doesn't look like she cursed him."

"Or hit him." Remus agreed.

"Got a mean slap," Sirius agreed, rubbing his cheek in obvious remembrance.

"You were First years when that happened." Remus reminded him.

"Still hurt."

"Does this mean you're an item?"

"Nope."

Remus looked amused. "Then why the smile?"

"Because she didn't reject me," James said mildly. "Which means she hasn't made up her mind."

"And just snogging her out of the blue is supposed to make that better? Prongs, even I know better than that." Sirius said, shaking his head.

Peter nodded his head in agreement.

James shrugged and laid down the first card. "If I go down, I'm going to go down big."

Peter reached for a card and they all jumped when it exploded in his hand.

"Isn't that the way we all want to go." Remus mused around the laughter.

* * *

**_Please comment!_**

**Notes:** Alice Longbottom does not appear to have a maiden name. However, it is suggested that it (might) be Prewett. This has not been confirmed or denied in cannon (as far as I could find, anyway) and I chose to use it. I was not able to dig up if Alice Longbottom or Amelia Bones were classmates of Lily Evan's, but in this story I am writing it as so. (That does not mean that there isn't a roster somewhere telling everyone of where they were in relations to the Potters. I just haven't found it.)

We are never made aware of how many students are in each year or in each house, so I am guessing that the chances of there being individuals a year or so older than you, still in your house and you and you not know them very well. That is my guess for Frank and (soon-to-be) Alice Longbottom.


	2. Sixth Year: 2

After the story, there are some notes that I have made to explain some of the choices I made while writing this particular one-shot.

A big thank you to Vashka_Kat who made sure I didn't screw up something simple. She is completely and utterly the best, ever.

Ravyn

Disclaimer: Do not own any characters in Harry Potter.

Warnings: Beside the crack? Some swearing, some violence, some lime.

* * *

"What has you so grumpy?"

Lily ignored the question. Starring out of the window, her jaw set, fingers tapping against her robe covered knee. He had kissed her. She had let him. _Hells_. That shouldn't have happened, would never have happened if he hadn't given her that look…

Since when had she been susceptible to a _look_ from _Potter_? She could have ended this entire mess if she had slapped or hexed him. Instead she had stood there like a ninny, lips tingling and… and…

_That_…

"Hogwarts to Lily Evans!"

Lily jerked around. "What?"

Alice looked amused. "I said, do you want to head over to Honeydukes first and split up from there? It appears that all the third years have decided to leave early this morning."

Lily pursed her lips, thinking. Honeydukes was a guaranteed place to buy sweets but it would limit her funds later…

"I don't know. There are a few things I need to pick up. How about we meet at the Three Broomsticks in an hour for a butterbeer?"

Alice pursed her lips and then nodded. "That should work."

Amelia grinned. "It means that we'll be bringing back less chocolate. What shops are you going to hit up, Lily?"

"Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop for one. I seem to have lost my good quill." To which she completely blamed Potter for. She hadn't been able to find it after coming back from the library the night before. Pressing her lips together for a moment, she shrugged. "After that, I'm not sure."

Amelia pulled a face. "That sounds _fun_. I think I'll head over to Zonko's and see what the resident mischief makers are sneaking out. Forewarned is forearmed."

Alice arched a brow. "Do you think they even bother to ride down on the carriages anymore? They sneak out of the castle so often I'm amazed they even bother on Hogsmeade weekends."

"Remus has to at least," Lily pointed out reluctantly. "Prefects are required to attend to keep an eye on things."

Alice frowned. "Is the school expecting problems?"

Lily frowned, her stomach tightening in knots. "No. I don't think so. I doubt they would let us leave the castle if they felt that there was going to be a problem. They just want to make sure that we take precautions is all."

"Ah." Amelia murmured, eyes dark.

Lily tried to smile. "So, Three Broomsticks in at least an hour?"

"Sure. First one there tries to grab a table then." Alice agreed. "Frank had some things to do, so we're going to meet up later in Honeydukes instead. I'll probably ride back with him so…"

"Don't wait around." Amelia teased as she slid out of the carriage. "Lily? Should we worry about you or should we just expect Potter to show up and escort you back?"

"Oh bugger off." Lily hissed as they walked off laughing. Looking around, she grimaced. It looked like today was going to be a mad house. At least she didn't have to run by the post office today.

Tracking down the replacement quill took longer than she thought it would and by the time she made it to The Three Broomsticks, it was packed. Wiggling through bodies, she searched for familiar faces. To her relief and embarrassment, Alice's amplified voice cut through the crowd.

"Lily!"

It took some work, but she managed to dive into one of the unoccupied chairs.

"Sorry about that. Was yelling at you but who can hear in this noise? Find your quill?"

"Found a decent replacement." Lily said as she shoved her hair out of her eyes. She looked over to the line near the bar and grimaced.

"Amelia is getting our drink orders. You owe her two silver sickles and probably some sanity."

"Yes, and pay up. I should charge more for dealing with that mad house." Amelia groaned as she pushed out of the crowd. "I thought some of the third years were going to mob me. They're _mad_, all of them."

Lily grinned and grabbed her share after handing over the coins. "First weekend out is always a madhouse."

"Lily, every weekend is a madhouse. It's just a matter of what kind." Alice informed her, pulling a face. "The halls are going to be full of exploding Dungbombs and hyperactive first years who bribed their older brothers and sisters for chocolate frogs and even _more_ Dungbombs."

"As long as someone doesn't try to slip FrogSpawn Soap back into the Prefect bathroom again; Dungbombs you can at least deal with a Scouring Charm." Lily pointed out, "Even if they do smell terribly."

"Speaking of… Honeydukes is packed. Slipped by there to check out the chocolate frog supply; if we hurry we are probably going to be fine." Amelia took a long drink of her butterbear. "I think most of the third years headed over to Zonko's first."

"Right. Or the Shrieking Shack."

"Oh that reminds me, did you see what our illustrious housemates were picking up?" Alice questioned.

Amelia pursed her lips. "No."

"No?"

She smiled and shrugged. Alice cut a confused look over to Lily who just shrugged. "Well, are we going to have to worry about any Dungbombs?"

"No. Not from me anyway. The room was packed with third years though so…"

"Well… how about we plan on swinging by here a little later once some of this mob has cleared out to take some butterbeer back with us."

"If Frank hasn't been by, he might want to stop in anyway. I can pick some up then."

"Deal. So, on to Honeydukes?"

"Please," Amelia groaned, rubbing an ear as a witch burst into loud laughter. "My ears are going to start bleeding soon."

X

"What's that expression for?" Sirius asked as he strolled into the dorm room, attempting to tug his robe into place.

James lifted his head and frowned. "I don't know."

"That a message from your folks?" Remus asked, setting his book aside. He looked around, frowning. "Where did Wormtail disappear to?"

"He wanted a head start; muttered something about a girl or some other nonsense. He sounded mad." Sirius said impatiently. "Prongs?"

James shrugged, tucking the parchment into his robe pocket. "It might be nothing."

Remus lifted both brows. "Do you think it's nothing?"

Sirius frowned. "This doesn't have anything to do with _them_, does it?"

"No." James said firmly. "We haven't heard anything from the rest of the Blacks."

"Good."

Remus stood, dropping his book back onto his bed. "So what is it?"

"Just something Dad mentioned. I don't think it had any context but…"

"Ah." Sirius said, his expression grave. "Activity?"

"Possibly," James frowned and shook his head. "But not here. Not with Dumbledore so close."

"We hope." Remus said his expression grave.

"Right." Sirius murmured quietly. "That means we better keep our eyes open."

James ran his fingers through his hair. "Yes."

"We could be borrowing trouble."

"That's true. Let's stick to the plan, then. I'll slid over to Zonko's and get the supplies we need. You two arrange for our butterbeer drop off and we'll meet up at Honeydukes." Sirius suggested. "That keeps us near all the main points that could be hit."

Remus pulled a face. "Oh yes. Because that's where we all want to be. Right in the middle of the action."

James stuffed his wand into his pocket. "I agree. We need to avoid being involved in any confrontation if there is an attack. What the papers are reporting suggests that the Death Eater attacks have been limited and whatever my parents know, they are keeping to themselves."

Sirius tapped his fingers on his thigh. "The papers have been keeping this quiet. I don't think most of the school is even aware of what has been going on the last three months."

"The Prefects are." Remus said quietly. "I overheard a few conversations and they are aware that there is a growing problem. Especially in Slytherian."

"Whole bloody house should be gotten rid of." Sirius growled. His eyes narrowed. "Snivelous has been almost giddy these past few days."

Remus shot him a look. "You're not suggesting that even Snape would be willing to…"

"The _bloody git_ would do whatever he thought would give him the ability to lord over people." James said flatly. "But Remus is right. We have no proof and nothing to even suggest that something will happen today."

"Except your gut."

James' mouth tightened. "We should head out if we want to get moving before the crowds start thinning."

"Right."

X

"You keep straining your neck and we're going to have to take you the Hospital Wing. I would say that even if Evans is here it's unlikely that we're going to find her, even with her red hair." Remus chastised. Smiling disarmingly at a serving girl, he maneuvered through the crowd.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Without a doubt."

James cut him a look. "I could be looking for Wormtail."

Remus snorted, "Only if he has red hair and breasts."

James sighed and leaned against the wall, waiting for a chance to slip around the back of the bar. It also gave him a chance to look around, cataloguing faces and expressions.

"I don't think you're going to find her in this mob."

James rolled his eyes. "I'm not… okay, _I am_ but that's not the only thing I'm paying attention to."

"If you say so."

"Some friend you are."

"The best… I think now?"

The back room of The Three Broomsticks was cool and dark. Moving quickly, Remus set about shrinking the bottles of butterbeer so that they would fit into the pockets of his robe.

"I'm not seeing any fire whisky."

"We'll have to come back later in the week then." James whispered, keeping his voice down. While they had standing agreement to take why they could fit in their pockets – as long as they left enough coin to cover what they had pilfered – there was really no reason to accidentally clue anyone else of their little deal.

"Done."

"I'll go pay. You want to go track down Sirius and I'll meet you at Honeydukes."

Remus gave him an amused look. "She could be at Zonko's."

"Lily Evans? Perfect Prefect?" James gave Remus and amused smile. "A lot of things she is but a prankster is not one of them."

Remus rolled his eyes before slipping out the side door. James counted to thirty and followed suit. It took some careful maneuvering to make it to the front to drop off the appropriate Galleons and by the time he made it outside he was grateful for the fresh air.

The trip to Honeydukes involved dodging overly excited third years. As always, the irritated mental question if he had ever been that stupid rolled through his head. As did the answer. Probably worse. These kids didn't have Sirius as an influence. Amused, he ducked into the store and looked around.

There were really only so many places Lily could go. Unless he just kept missing her. Well, while he was here he might as well stock up on the usual supplies of sugar quills and chocolate frogs. Stepping around a knot of giggles girls, he frowned when he caught sight of Alice standing next to Frank Longbottom, her face set into hard lines.

Pausing, he let his eyes slid over the knot of sixth years standing in front of the blood pops. Amelia had her hands clenched and even Frank looked irritated. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he sauntered forward.

"Have you seen Lily?" Always best to just get it out in the open.

Alice spun around, "Potter."

James blinked at her. "Yes?"

She licked her lips. "What are you doing here?"

"I had an urge to buy some chocolate frogs… what are _you_ doing here, _Alice_?"

She flushed and fidgeted. Eyes narrowing, James shifted his gaze to Amelia. She stared back. Frank sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" James asked pleasantly, shifting his weight.

The sounds of Remus muttering his way through the crowd caught his attention.

"Ah, James, there you are. I heard there had been a little scene involving Snape and I…" his words died as he stepped around the corner and saw who James was talking to. "Ah."

"Snape said something to Lily." James said quietly, staring at Alice who looked away. James cut his gaze over to Remus who own eyes had narrowed into slits.

"Don't."

James looked over at Alice, lifting a brow. "Don't what?"

"Lily can take care of Snape." Amelia said firmly. "If you get involved it will just make it worse."

"You've _already_ made it _worse_." Alice snapped.

Remus snorted. "If that's what you think."

"It is." Alice said flatly.

James shrugged, eyes flickering with temper before he turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Amelia demanded.

"To find Lily."

Alice bit her lip and looked over at Frank. "You don't think…"

Frank shrugged. "Does it matter?"

She sighed. "I think I'll take that butterbeer now, if you don't mind."

Remus stared in the direction James had gone and turned to Amelia. "Since I've been abandoned, care to browse the shelves with me?"

Amelia stared at him for a long moment before shrugging. "Why not. Later Alice."

X

Lily stared at the Shrieking Shack. There were surprisingly few people about, even with the occasionally giggling group of third years. Taking a long, deep breath she shoved her bangs out of her eyes and forced herself to go back over the confrontation with Snape.

Everything always seemed to go wrong when they talked. In less than a year, five years of friendship had been wiped out. Reaching up, she scrubbed her hands over her face. Being out here and sulking over it wasn't going to make it go away. They had both chosen sides and now… now they were going to live with those consequences. Breathing in deeply, she forced her emotions to behave.

It was over.

"Lily."

She stiffened, spine snapping straight as she lifted her eyes. Potter had his hands shoved into his pockets and he looked as ruffled as usual; his Gryffindor scarf knotted loosely around his neck and his hair sticking in every direction. But behind his glasses his eyes were glittering and the set of his shoulders was tense.

"Potter."

His eyes scanned her frame – checking for curses? Had he heard? Dammit, she didn't care! – before moving beside her to study the Shrieking Shack. She wasn't certain how long she stood there, waiting for him to make a move, body tense. Finally he sighed and shrugged, as if deliberately shaking something off before his eyes returned to hers.

"Enjoying yourself?"

That was not what she expected him to say. Frowning, she rocked onto her heels and looked away. "Yes."

He was silent for a moment before he was suddenly close enough that she could feel the heat of him through her robes. The air had turned chilly and she was surprised to find herself tempted to lean closer.

This was _Potter_!

"Do you need to talk?"

Lily took a step back and turned to face him. "What?" Her brows furrowed. "Where is this coming from?"

James tilted his head and stared down at her, eyes intense. "I heard that Snape had a few words to say to you."

She felt her face turning red and she hated it. Swallowing, she tightened her grip on her wand. "I can handle myself, Potter."

"So Alice made a point of telling me." He shifted closer to her so that she had to tilt her head back. "You'd let me know if you couldn't."

She frowned at him. "I don't need a baby sitter and I don't need your help to handle Se-Snape."

A humorless smile curled his mouth. "This has nothing to do with being able to handle yourself, Lily. You've lived in the Wizarding world long enough now to know that pure bloods have other ways of fighting back." His eyes burned behind his glasses and his jaw worked for a moment and he took a step back. "So I'm asking. If you ever find yourself needing help, you know where to find me."

"I…"

Lily had no idea what to say and instead, reached up to run her fingers through her hair, hoping to buy a moment to think. First he kissed her – and she still owed him a hex for that – and now he was offering to help her deal with Severus? Well, she admitted, that one she could see. There was no love lost between Potter and Snape and she doubted that Potter required her help to find reasons to hex him… Sighing, she looked back over at him. What was he trying to pull? James shifted forward, clearly intending to say something else when the sound and vibrations of an explosion shook the air; staggering them both.

Before she could recover her footing, James fingers had wrapped around her elbow and he was dragging her into the nearby trees. Once they were somewhat under cover, he pulled her down with him. His wand was already out and she fumbled for her, fingers suddenly cold and clammy; they didn't want to respond.

"What was that?" The words came out on a low hiss and she swallowed hard.

"We'll know in a moment." James replied grimly. Lily frowned at him but stayed were she was. There was a growing, niggling suspicion in the back of her mind that she didn't like. Her heart started hammering in her ears and she took several deep breaths; panicking now would do nothing but make the situation worse. Instead, she scanned the area for third years but found no sign of them.

They had been at the village for half a day. How many students were still _here_?

They were far enough from the village that all they could hear was the wind whistling but she still knew the moment the situation had gone from possible prank to _bad_. James went stuff beside her and his fingers dug into her arm – hard enough to bruise. Lifting her eyes to follow his gaze, her stomach lurched and heaved at the sight of a mark several hundred feet into the air.

It was as if the bubble around them had popped and everything had sharpened. She felt as if she could hear the sounds of faint, terrified screaming.

"Death Eaters," James voice was grim and his jaw set in a line she hadn't seen from him before.

"But…" Lily managed, shock making it hard to think, "_Dumbledore_."

"Is already on his way. _Probably_. But that isn't going to do us much good if they catch us here." James voice was razor sharp. "We need to either find a way back to the castle or some cover until the Aurors get here."

"The carriages are going to be targeted." Lily whispered furiously. "The shops are going to be closing down their walls to protect the students inside."

"Which means they are going to have to concentrate on the students that were outside when they attacked or start attempting to break down the barriers," James agreed. He blew out a long breath. "Bloody hell."

Lily agreed with him, eyes scanning the area frantically. A faint, fluttering move out of the corner of her eye had her fingers gripping James sleeve tightly. She tugged and he tensed, looking over her shoulder.

There were two, darkly robbed figures creeping along the edge of the tree line they were hiding behind. It was obvious that they were going to see them soon – Lily felt her stomach knot up. Red, red, _red_! Why did her hair have to be red?

Hot breath brushed by her ear and James spoke in a ragged whisper. "Stay behind me."

Fingers clenched tightly around her wand, – _think, think, think_ – she set her teeth and whispered as forcefully as she could manage the words of the most potent defensive charm she could remember. James didn't seem to hear her; he was inching forward lips moving silently. For a moment, she considered falling back… but James couldn't handle two death eaters on his own. Lily set her jaw and inched after him, wishing she could risk casting a silencing spell on her shoes.

She didn't think it was anything they did. Maybe they sensed whatever James was doing, but the first death eater brought up wand up and hissed a spell that Lily didn't catch. It slammed into her defensive barrier with a snap and it wavered in front of them. James took advantage of the lapse to start firing off his own spells.

Lily had no idea what half of the spells Potter was using and she could only half pay attention to the way her charm was fading. Both death eaters were concentrating on James so she waited. She could hear the strain in James' voice as he kept them off her and calling herself a fool, cast the full body bind.

She expected it hit because the death eater wasn't paying attention to her, but whatever luck was with her held and in a moment the second death eater collapsed.

Lily was panting, fingers white against her wand.

"Are you alright?" James demanded as he used a complicated spell Lily had never heard of – he had used several spells she had never heard off – to bind the death eaters together. She did recognize the spell that rendered the death eaters incapable of seeing, hearing or speaking for as long as he held the spell. The air around him was crackling with the force of residue magic and she realized she could feel it clinging to her skin as well.

"Yes." She swallowed. "Someone would have heard that."

James grunted. "Defensive charm?"

Lily blew out a shaky breath. "Yes… _what_…"

He looked around, eyes narrowed to slits behind his glasses. "I'll teach them to you sometime, but we need to move."

Teach them to her. Suggesting that she would allow him to spend large amounts of time in her presence. Not the time to be thinking of this.

So instead, she repeated her earlier concern. "Someone would have heard that."

James nodded and met her eyes. "It shouldn't have been that easy."

"Easy," Lily repeated eyes wide. "I'm not sure that is what I would call that."

James shook his head and shoved his glasses up his nose. "We need to move. Can you cast the Defense charm again?"

She pressed her lips together and nodded. "Yes. But if I do it wrong it will probably kill us."

James's mouth quirked at the corners, "Fulbert the Fearful?"

She swallowed. "Do you have a plan, Potter? Because we can't be the only students attacked and there are third years here."

Moving swiftly, he ripped off the masks of the men in front of him.

"Ah," James said voice hard. Lily didn't recognize either man but it was obvious that James did. He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back into the thick trees that surrounded Hogsmeade.

And then he just stopped, dragging her down behind a thick cluster of bushes. Startled, she looked around frantically and by the time she looked back, James had a piece of parchment in front of him and was studying it.

"Potter?"

"It appears that Dumbledore is on his way." He said before tapping the map and muttering something at it that she didn't quite catch. Folding it neatly he tucked it back into his robes and his expression was grave. "We can do two things. Wait here and hope that no death eaters find us or take our chances in the village."

"The students…"

"Are already being ferreted into the secret passageways," James said softly. "But yes, the possibility that several like us are bunking down in the hopes of being helped…"

"You know the secret tunnels better than I do," Lily whispered, fingers of her free hand curling into his robe. "Is there any that we can get to?"

James was tense under her hand before he nodded. "Yes. But it will be risky. All of them are from inside buildings, so we are going to have to make our way back into town."

Lily nodded. "I can duel, James."

"I know." He said softly. "You don't have anything to prove to me, Evans. If you want to find a way to make to the tunnels that is what we will do."

Lily stared up at him, he stared back… and she couldn't read him.

"James… I'm a _Prefect_. I'm not leaving." She licked her lips. "Besides, our friends might need us."

He nodded and his expression went tight. "Okay. While we're up there, we only trust each other, Evans. We don't know who they were targeting – if they were targeting anyone – and if students are involved in this… you're muggle-born and my family…" his lips twisted into a hard little smile that made her heart start hammering all over again. He continued to watch her so she took a deep breath.

"Yes."

"You're going to have to trust me." He murmured. "Completely."

"I am not a complete idiot." She whispered fiercely.

He nodded. "_Stay close_."

And then he was moving his wand and the sudden sensation of a cold egg hitting the top of her head and rolling down her spine had her eyes widening. Then James pointed the wand at himself and repeated it. To Lily's shock, James seemed to fade into the trees around him, blending in completely with what was behind him.

Her mouth went dry for a completely different reason. She hadn't thought… A disillusionment charm took a great deal of control – not just power – and the fact that he was managing it on both of them after a duel was equal parts terrifying and comforting.

Warm fingers slid along her knee until they located the hand not grasping her wand. "This should buy us some freedom to move, although we'll have to be careful."

X

Remus crawled through the packed bodies in Honeydukes, moving to assess what was going on. He could hear Sirius arguing with Flume about going outside. Rolling his eyes, he skidded around a crying third year from Hufflepuff and stood once he had slipped behind some shelves. While the defensive barriers on the store had held, there was no reason to make an unnecessary target of himself.

"Sirius, stop."

Sirius spun around, eyes narrowed into angry slits. "James is out there."

Flume shook his head. "I'm sorry, but my concern right now is the students in _here_."

Remus nodded and signaled to Sirius to be quiet. "Is there a passageway that we can get the students to the castle from?"

Sirius blinked at him and Flume stroked his mustache. "Yes, there be one on that back wall. Not many students use it these days but it should be cleared."

Patricia Feldwall, a Ravenclaw Sixth Year Prefect caught the drift of their conversation and relief spread across her face. "We are just sitting targets here."

Remus nodded in agreement. "We need to round up the students and get them back to the castle."

They could still torch the shop after all, and anti-fire warding only went so far.

Alice and Amelia were moving in their direction, keeping their heads low. There expressions were as worried as Sirius'. Remus sighed. Evans and James weren't the only students who were possibly trapped in the streets. Once the Aurors arrived, spell fire would increase.

"What's the plan?" Amelia asked, her wand held steadily in her hand.

"Flume is going to open a passage to Hogwarts and then we're going to get these kids out of here."

Alice grasped Frank's hand. "And Lily?"

Sirius said nothing so Remus sighed. "Evans is with James. He won't do anything to get them killed and he knows what he is doing. Patricia, can you start pairing the students together so we can start moving them out. Best to just push them all out at the same time, but the tunnel will be dark. We don't want to leave anyone behind by accident."

She nodded.

Remus looked back at Sirius. "_Peter_ is probably back at the castle."

Sirius looked mutinous for a moment and then he nodded. "Right."

"We'll worry about James later."

Sirius looked through the spelled windows, his jaw line tight. "For now, I'll agree to that."

"But what about…"

"If we lower the protection spell we increase the risk to every student here." The voice came from behind him. Seventh Year Prefect Marcus Sandbagger from Hufflepuff. His features were strained. "Our duty is to the students we can help now."

"Bullocks." Amelia hissed.

Remus held up his hands. "Dumbledore is already on his way and I for one don't want to tangle with a death eater. Please, go get in line for the passage."

Sirius leaned forward when they were gone. "I'll go back with this group and Peter and I will sneak back. If James needs us…"

"I'll stay here and keep an eye on things."Remus murmured. "He has the map, Sirius."

"Bloody lot of good that will do him here," Sirius hissed quietly. "We didn't include it to extend past the grounds."

"He'll know who is coming to help from the castle." Remus pointed out. "Which is more than we know right now."

"Fine. But I don't like it."

"Go get Peter and then come back." Remus said softly. "I have a mirror and so do you. If we need drastic measures I'll let you know. Wait for word at the shack."

"Done. But I won't wait for long."

"James won't do anything stupid."

'_I hope.'_

X

This had to be the stupidest idea she had ever had. She wasn't certain about Potter, but as she darted around the corner of another building she really hoped he knew what he was doing. That last curse had sounded terribly like _cruciatus._ She would prefer to be hit with _A__vada Kedavra_ than _cruciatus_. James was muttered spells under his breath as they ran and Lily was simply trying to keep the defense charm up without blowing them both to bits.

"I hope you have an idea!" Lily snarled as they rounded yet another corner. Pretty soon they were going to hit a dead end and then…

"Trust me!"

She was going to get herself killed. And then what? The sound of another curse hitting her weakening shield terrified her into another burst of speed. The only consolation was that she hadn't seen any other students on the street. That meant they had all been smuggled into stores during the first phase of the attack, or they were being held hostage.

She preferred to think of it as the latter. James yanked her around a corner, frantically tapped a wall three times and then threw them both through the opening. She tripped and jammed her knee into the ground and he barely gave her time to recover from the shock before he was ripping her up again and dragging her to the back wall. Sliding his wand along the floor as shouts and banging started against the wall; a small seam appeared that opened into passage way.

The door behind them started to open and a loud, angry "Halt" cut through the air as she and James fell into the opening. The door snapped shut behind them just as the sounds of curses began to fly into the air.

Lily almost bit clean through her tongue to keep from shrieking as they crashed in a pile of arms and legs. She was fairly sure she had landed on James, but her ears were ringing. James was cursing from somewhere and arms wrapped around her middle and the world swung strangely in the dark as something hit the floor above them hard enough that dirt fell from the ceiling. The next thing she knew, James had shoved her hard up against the wall, covering her with the length of his body. Instinct had her wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she dared. Being buried alive in a tunnel under an old, filthy house was a nightmare she was sure she would be having for years.

After what felt like ages, there were no more explosions or shouting, just the ragged breathing of both her and James. Pressing her face into his shoulder, she let him continue to hold her, straining for some sign that they had discovered where she and James had fled. Breathing in deeply, she slowly worked on taking account of herself to check for any injuries she might have missed or affects of a curse that might have gotten through her shield. Everything _felt_ normal.

James was breathing heavily in her ear and with her hands pressed up against his back she was able to feel the strain on his muscles. His robe was soaked through with sweat; the edge of his wand was digging into the small of her back and his breath was hot against her neck. Swallowing, she let herself absorb the lean strength of his body and the way he had pressed so tightly against her.

And for a moment she almost felt safe.

"James?" Her voice came out softer than she intended, but at least she didn't squeak. He let out a long breath and tickled her ear but he didn't move.

"Yeah."

"Those were _Aurors_."

"Yes."

Lily shoved the knot of fear and panic out of her throat; forced her knees to stop shaking. She could react later. "I didn't see any students while were running, did you?"

"No."

He slowly lowered her so that her feet were touching the ground and a soft 'lumos' later she was staring up at his face. His skin was drawn across his cheekbones and the expression in his eyes was one that made her breath catch. His eyes had darkened to almost black and she had never seen such a hard, unforgiving expression in them.

He looked exhausted.

"Are you all right?" The words popped out of her mouth before she could stop them and he blinked and then nodded. "I will be. You?"

Lily shifted her weight and grimaced. "I banged my knee during our graceful entrance to the house."

He crouched down to look at it but she took a step back. "It's fine. Just a bruise."

He sighed but nodded.

"Should we go back up there?"

James muttered something and the light grew brighter so that she had to blink to focus her eyes. "To do what?

"Potter…"

"Honestly, Evans. If the Aurors are here then there is nothing else of for us to do. They can handle it and we need to get back to the castle."

"Why?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "They are going to be taking a head count. I don't think we want them to notice that we're missing. Then we'd have to explain why."

Lily pursed her lips. Okay… she could see his point. Explaining that they had snuck back into town and then subsequently been chased by death eaters because James couldn't see his feet was... not brilliant.

"Okay," she said finally, surprised at how weary her voice sounded. "Alice and Amelia are going to be worried anyway."

James grimaced. "Sirius is going to kill me."

"For not being safe?"

"For having fun without him."

"Fun? You thought that was _FUN_?" She gripped her wand tightly. "Are you _insane_?"

"We're alive," James said, frowning at her. "We cursed death eaters and I must say, that was a fabulous bit of charms work with the defensive shield."

"I wouldn't have even had _to use a shield if you hadn't tripped_!" That moment had taken ten years off her life -- she could have sworn her heart had stopped -- and he had thought it was some fun bit of a game? "You are so _unbelievable_!"

Lily lit her wand and started stomping up the path. She couldn't believe it. For one, _single second_ there she had actual thought he was responsible and he had thought it was _fun_?

"Evans!"

This was why she didn't go anywhere with _James Potter_.

Ignoring the way his longer strides easily kept up with her own, she kept her eyes straight ahead.

_Never, never, never_ would she trust him again.

X

Lily stared at her dinner plate, refusing to acknowledge the way James was staring at her. Dinner that night was quiet, no one really doing much talking. It was only a matter of time before they started, of course, but there was still a stunned sort of realization that the school had been attacked and that this… Voldemort was a serious threat.

The Slytherian table was especially silent although Lily was fairly certain that it had something to do with savoring the results instead of horror at them. She had refused herself the right to even look at Snape. She didn't want to see what his face would tell her.

"Lily," Amelia murmured in a low voice. "Are you alright?"

She stabbed a bite of potatoes with her fork and looked up, both brows lifted. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just… well; you weren't part of the original headcount."

"I'm fine. Nothing happened."

Well, if you didn't count running for your life with Potter and then thinking for one moment he was decent and then realizing it had all just been some big, gigantic game where he had probably kept score by curse. Her bottom lip trembled for a moment so she shoved the potatoes in her mouth and chewed violently.

She would not cry about that.

She could feel his eyes boring into the side of her head and she chewed harder.

The sudden clearing of Dumbledore's throat caught everyone's attention.

"If you please…"

Lily set her fork down and to her relief, Alice hand slid into her own.

"It is with great regret that I announce a cancellation of all future Hogsmeade trips. I am sure you all understand why." His eyes scanned the room and for a moment, Lily thought that they landed on her. "Today we faced a terrible situation that did not end in great tragedy, for which I can only give credit due to this student population. There were many great deeds of bravery accomplished this afternoon, and I cannot possibly award points for them all. In fact, I will not even try. But today, several students separated themselves from the rest and their silent deeds have not gone unnoticed. For outstanding acts of bravery I award the sum of two hundred points to both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and for exceptional level headedness, I award one hundred points to Hufflepuff. Slytherian receives fifty house points."

Lily froze and this time she was certain that he was staring straight at her but then his eyes moved along to where she knew the Marauders were sitting.

"Any time spent in Hogsmeade will result in severe punishment. Please do not think to use any of the secret passages that were shown to you today for your own benefit. Flich has been made aware of them all and any student who is seen sneaking out of the castle will be punished severely. Thank you."

"Two hundred points!" Alice whispered, sounding shocked. "But…"

Amelia narrowed her eyes and stared at Lily. "Someone must have done something fairly outrageous for that."

Lily blinked and shook her head. "Don't look at me."

"Why has Potter been staring at you all evening with that look?"

"Potter is always staring at me."

"Yes but this time… he almost looks apologetic."

Lily took a deep breath and looked over, her eyes locking with James. Then, very deliberately, she turned her attention back to her friends. "I don't know and I don't care. I am finished discussing Potter. We have more important things to worry about. Like death."

Amelia and Alice exchange looks but shrugged. "Of course."

"If that's what you want."

Lily nodded and returned to her food. It was what she wanted. She didn't care if her stomach was in knots. No… no matter what she had thought, James Potter would never, ever change.

* * *

_**Please Comment!**_

**Notes:** Alice Longbottom does not appear to have a maiden name. However, it is suggested that it (might) be Prewett. This has not been confirmed or denied in cannon (as far as I could find, anyway) and I chose to use it. I was not able to dig up if Alice Longbottom or Amelia Bones were classmates of Lily Evan's, but in this story I am writing it as so. (That does not mean that there isn't a roster somewhere telling everyone of where they were in relations to the Potters. I just haven't found it.)

We are never made aware of how many students are in each year or in each house, so I am guessing that the chances of there being individuals a year or so older than you, still in your house and you and you not know them very well. That is my guess for Frank and (soon-to-be) Alice Longbottom.

The Disillusionment Charm was used several times in the last two books. I couldn't find the incantation or any other information about it other than how well you disappear appears to completely depend on the strength of the castor. I took some liberties with it.

As for the secret passages that James and Lily use to hide from Death Eaters, it is the one on the Fourth Floor that later George and Fred prefer to use to escape to Hogsmeade until the tunnel collapses. As far as I could find, there was no mention of where this particular passage exited, so I took the liberty to make it up. If someone does know where this passage ends up, please let me know.

The other use of secret passages was also made up. Besides the mention of them and that Flinch is aware of their location, I was unable to find any other information other than 'most of them' should lead to Hogsmeade. I took advantage of that here.


	3. Sixth Year: Christmas Holiday

Well, here is part 3. I intend of putting out a few more chapters, but I don't expect they will be out any time soon. This muse is not in any particular hurry. Eventually, I'll make my way into Seventh Year.

Hope you enjoy.

Note: I do not own Harry Potter. Any mistakes or liberties taken are mine and mine alone. =) (This has yet to be beta-read.)

Ravyn

* * *

Christmas at the castle was quieter than Lily had expected, even with the larger number of muggle-born students spending the holiday safe inside Hogwarts. The usually tension that hung in the air had been muted with Christmas sparkles and the occasional magical flute playing something cheerful in the hallways. The large fireplaces in the library were crackling with heat and Lily felt that she was finally gaining some feeling back into her fingers and toes after tossing snowballs like a First year.

It was nice, she decided. She missed home. She missed hot chocolate and Christmas fudge and decorations that didn't explode into song or a colorful barrage of tinsel and confetti. But fairies were an interesting change in direction from lights and here the occasional stocking was likely to _sing_… sorting hats and singing socks; she wondered if Dumbledore's Christmas Robes were as blinding as his usual wear.

Besides, this year wouldn't have been the same anyway.

"Lily?"

Lily turned and blinked at the sight of Remus. He was a bit damp at the edges and he looked like someone had recently set him on fire. Blinking rapidly to make sure she wasn't imagining this, she frowned. "Remus?"

He smiled. "You really don't want to know. How'd I miss you being on the lists?"

She shrugged, still staring. Personally, she was more interested in figuring out how she'd missed _him_ in the common room the last three days. She'd spent the evening huddled in front of the fireplace with pilfered hot-chocolate (the kitchens were not so great a secret as everyone suspected) and eating sugar cookies with the small first years and a few of the upper classmen.

"I was a late addition." McGonagall had been surprisingly sympathetic to her late request to stay. She had frowned only a little. "How have I missed you?"

"I just got back." Remus gave a little shrug. "Family issues."

Lily tried to remember the details of Remus' home life, but other than his mother continually fighting an illness, she had very little to go on. There was a slight, niggling suspicion about Remus that she had never really dug into – either to confirm or deny. But Snape's curious, questioning voice had taken a long time to push to the back of her mind. Remus didn't seem to mind her lack of questions, folding his arms on the table and using them to brace his chin.

"I would have thought you would have gone home."

Lily frowned. "I usually do."

Remus didn't say anything, but Lily could feel that soft curiosity he seemed to wear like a cloak. Sighing, she shrugged uncomfortably. "My sister is engaged."

That seemed to baffle him. When it seemed like he was going to dig for more details, she gave him a tight smile. "Are you expecting company this Christmas?"

Remus' expression changed to something considering. For a moment, there was an intensity she did not normally associate with her quiet friend and she blinked at it. Then it had disappeared back into warm brown eyes like it never happened.

"Not until Christmas afternoon. Mrs. Potter likes to have James and Sirius around for some of the vacation and Peter's family probably won't let him return until term starts."

Lily felt a little relief. Every since… the incident, as she was calling it, had happened she hadn't been able to completely control her reaction to James Potter. It was… irritating. Something had changed that day regardless of how much she denied it. She accepted she was a teenager with a teenager's hormones (her memory of an expression, a kiss and later, the hot look in his eye and the smell and feel of him pressed against her after they had escaped…) but she was determined to deal with this on her own terms and those did not include Potter.

"He's a good friend, Lily."

She pulled herself out of her thoughts and studied Remus. He was watching her with a hint of that previous expression in his eyes and she shook her head. There was really only one 'him' between her and Remus. Sometimes she let herself wonder what that meant.

"I have never accused him otherwise."

Remus gave a little shrug. "I suppose not. But I don't think you've thought about it, either."

Lily frowned at him. "Remus…"

He sat up and lifted his hands. "I'm not trying to get in the middle of whatever is going on between you two, honest. That's more of a Sirius thing. I just want to make that clear. He's a good friend. The best friend I've ever had. I take that seriously and I know you do as well."

It hurt, just a little and she couldn't quite stop the flinch but Remus didn't apologize. What had happened between her and Snape had happened for a reason. She was learning to cope with that edge of loneliness and the hostility that she couldn't shake in potions, regardless of Slughorn's watchful eye. For once, she was almost grateful to be a favorite.

Tapping her fingers on her thigh, she studied Remus. He seemed to be okay with that, closing his eyes and for all intents and purposes taking a nap. Remus was right. She did take friendships seriously. Snape's decision to call her… _that word_, had hurt. That Potter had been the… catalyst that had driven that decision home and left her angry for a very long time. But Remus wasn't the only one to point out that her behavior might be a little off in regards to Potter; he was just kinder about it.

Alice had no such qualms.

'_I think you overreacted.'_

_Lily paused, turning to stare at her best friend. "What?"_

_Alice crossed her arms. "Amelia agrees with me."_

"_You and Amelia think I'm over reacting." Lily repeated, trying to make sure she had this right. _

"_Yes." She took a deep breath. "Look, you were chased by Death Eaters. You flung spells, you ran, you depended on each other – no way in hell you would have done that with someone you didn't trust. Would you have done that with Snape?"_

_Lily flinched._

_Alice nodded. "Exactly. You're not the Lily Evans who was Snape's friend anymore either. If you can change, why can't he?"_

_Lily crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "Alice…"_

"_No, it's time this was said. Snape and you broke ties in Fifth Year. We're in _Sixth_ and you still refuse to admit that something might have changed – you let Snape hurt you with everything he _doesn't do_ and you let Potter be the outlet for your anger. Just… just think about it, okay, Lils?"_

Sliding her eyes over, Lily considered the sleeping Remus. She could ask him what Potter had said, but that would be close to asking him to break a confidence. Then there was the added bonus that it would get back to Potter that she was _asking about him_. She had no intention of anything making its way to Potter until she had everything figured out in her head. That was important. But right now she felt a little soggy and wanted the laughter of first years clustered around a singing stocking because it made her feel lighter. She needed lighter today.

"Remus?"

His lashes fluttered a little and then tired brown eyes fixed on her face. Lily bit her lip to hide her smile.

"I'm heading back to the common room. You want to come with me or do you want to nap here?"

Looking pained at the thought of moving, Remus finally grunted and pushed himself to his feet. Lily shook her head and pushed to her feet and waited for Remus to collect himself before making their way back to the Gryffindor common room. "I usually sneak my way down to the kitchen for an evening run of hot chocolate and cookies. I could use an extra hand tonight."

Remus looked momentarily surprised at her mention of kitchen (his eyes narrowed just a little at the corners) but supposedly allowed himself to be distracted by the thought of chocolate. Lily kept her face carefully straight. She knew she had a reputation for being a bit of a goody, goody but her once-best-friend had been in Slytherian for a reason. Only Alice knew that she had been risked a warning letter from Ministry on the Improper Use of Magic to win an argument with Petunia. Lily didn't mind taking risks or bending the rules nearly as much as everyone thought. Letting out the fact that she knew about the kitchens would make its way back to Remus' friends (Potter), but for once she found that she didn't mind nearly as much as she had.

X

Lily stared up at the ceiling in her dorm room. Right then, she was the only girl there. Alice, who had offered to stay with her, was probably enjoying an evening at the Longbottom's. Or panicking, rumor was that Augusta was quite the handful. She missed her friend. She could have used someone of her clear cut honestly just then. Her conversation with Remus wouldn't leave her alone. (Even in the turmoil of her head and heart concerning Petunia, Potter managed to make himself an annoyance.) Who knew her fellow prefect could cut to the heart of a matter with such ease given the chance. _'The best friend I've ever had._' Crinkling her forehead, she pursued her lips.

'_You're avoiding me.'_

'_I'm mad at you.' Lily said firmly, watching the way Potter seemed to flinch just a little at the ire in her voice before his own eyes narrowed._

'_That gives you a reason to avoid me?'_

'_I don't need a _reason_, Potter. I can just choose not to be near you.' _

Lily sighed and pulled her pillow over her face. She knew she felt justified in her treatment of Potter the last few months. It had… hurt some unexplainable part of herself that he had just brushed off their experience as fun. She had been terrified. She had been _worried_ and had _struggled to protect James Potter_ – and he had thought it was some great big Joke. The last few months had been difficult. Alice and Amelia were the best and she adored them, but she had grown up with Snape as part of her. He had been the one who told her she was magical. It was an experience that she had foolishly thought would always connect them.

She supposed between the terror of the Death Eaters – people killing muggle-born because they could, because they considered them some incurable disease – and her still sharp pain at Snape's utter rejection of everything they _had_ had contributed to her reactions. Because no matter how angry it made her she couldn't quite shake the look behind Potter's eyes when he looked at her after the world had stopped shaking. With bits of plaster and dirt clinging to his bangs, eyes hot with tension and relief – pressed so tightly against her, he had just simple _looked_ at her. There had been no teasing, no amusement in that expression. Just a deadly seriousness that had almost left her believing that their escape hadn't been nearly the amount of luck she had thought.

Then he had opened his mouth and ruined it.

Pushing the pillow off her face and onto the floor, Lily sat up. Frowning down at her hands, she finally did what she hadn't ever let herself do. She seriously considered what James Potter was becoming instead of what he had done. Because Alice was right. If she could accept the changes in Snape – if he had _made her_ – then she could at least give Potter the same chance. (Because maybe it would hurt less that way, knowing that someone else had the ability to change so completely from what they had been…)

Lips pressed together, fingers curled into knots, she went over every conversation, every glance. If she was honest with herself… Potter's behavior since the attack had been almost subdued. But even before that, there had been a seriousness that had lurked behind everything he had done. (She would not think about that Kiss.) Yes, he was ridiculous and this… strange obsession in her was uncomfortable, but she removed Snape, removed his ridiculous crush…

Lily blew her bangs out of her eyes and sighed.

Then she would have considered Potters someone worth becoming friends with.

In one term, she would go back home to a sister she didn't understand and a wedding she couldn't agree with. She would live in constant concern for the safety of her family and wondering what was going on in the Wizarding World. What was happening with Voldemort. (She had never bought her own subscription to Daily Prophet, she just borrowed Alice's. Now there were other reasons not to buy it.) What she would come back to… what would happen after graduation?

_"This has nothing to do with being able to handle yourself, Lily. You've lived in the Wizarding world long enough now to know that pure bloods have other ways of fighting back." His eyes burned behind his glasses and his jaw worked for a moment and he took a step back. "So I'm asking. If you ever find yourself needing help, you know where to find me."_

Lily pushed off the bed. She was willing to admit that Potter may have realized the seriousness of what was happening the Wizarding world. She may have been willing to admit that she had made some mistakes where he and his friends were concerned (when was the last time she had seen them throw a hex in the halls?) But she wasn't willing to do more than end this… embitterment between them. Because although Alice and Amelia and everyone else were right, that maybe he deserved a second chance, she was right as well. She couldn't be friends with someone she couldn't respect. And James Potter had a long way to go before she could say that she respected him. Tucking her bottom lip between her teeth, she considered the piece of parchment in front of her and considered what to write.

X

"Bollocks!"

The heat burned his nose and finger tips as he dripped melted snow in clumps, shaking out his cloak and off the ends of his broom. Shuddering at the sudden change in heat, he scrambled out of his outwear; afraid he would suffocate even as he continued to shiver.

"James!" Sirius gasped theatrically as he swiped his hands through his longer hair. "What would your mother say?"

James snorted as he pulled his wand out to dry the floor and their damp clothing. Sirius bounded into the living room, hair bouncing along the back of his neck like a tail. Shaking his head, he shoved his glasses a little higher on his nose and followed Sirius a little more sedately into the living area where the fire was crackling alongside the tree. With his parents out calling on relatives, they had the house to themselves until dinner. Usually they would require him to accompany the family to the Christmas Eve outing, but with Sirius with them this break and possibly this summer after his falling out with the family, they had agreed it would be best if they stayed put. Until they go a feel for how the Black family would respond.

Tomorrow they headed back to Hogwarts. He loved being at home; with the family wards protecting him from the Underage Magic Statute he never felt completely disconnected from his magic. (He wondered how Lily did it every summer… she sure made up for it in the school year.) Having Sirius here this year was even better. He'd been forced to watch his best friend for five years return each summer and Christmas with hollow-eyes and a stiff jawed determination to terrorize the Slytherian house. This year, he'd found himself sharing his family with the brother he'd always wanted.

His cheeks felt permanently wind burned from the cold and flying. He'd been pranked and pranked (the bathroom, he'd never expected it!) They had hung an outlandish amount of Christmas decorations and garish amounts of tinsel. James was of course curious to see what was under the tree, but his parents could have gotten him socks and it still would have been the best

Christmas ever.

But it hadn't been all fun and games. Both James and Sirius had every intention of joining the Aurora Corps after graduation and spent the first week with that goal in mind. They had spent hours perfecting a variety of spells they had nicked from the school library. After the attack on Hogsmead it wasn't just a matter of having a wider base of spell work for pranking; now it was about being able to fight back. James hadn't forgotten his mad rush through Hogsmead with Lily (or how well she had handled herself.) It was important for him to fight against Voldemort, but thinking of a certain redhead and the half-terrified expression behind her eyes drove him more than he had expected.

When they weren't practicing their spell work, transfiguration and 'making a nuisance of themselves' as his mum had accused, they were busy raiding the kitchen for late night cookies or re-arranging the ornaments on the tree. James grinned as a particular enthusiastic piece of tinsel jumped out and tried to attach himself to his sweater.

Sirius grinned. "I named that one Lily."

"Bugger off."

Sirius placed a hand on his heart and looked hurt. "But prongs-y, I only do this for you!"

James rolled his eyes as he slouched on the couch, biting firmly into a cookie from the platter his mum had left out for them.

"Any word from Peter or Remus?"

"Peter hoped on the mirror this morning while you were busy primping yourself." Sirius said. "Things are going okay as can be expected."

"We really need to make another set of those mirrors." James muttered around a mouthful, his eyes narrowed. "Could come in handy."

"We had two sets. You broke one."

"I believe that was you."

"I confess nothing!"

"Hmmm. At the least, we should see…" The flutter of owls pulled interrupted his thought.

Grinning, he sprang to his feet and headed to the table to intercept the bundling of letters. Most of the gifts had been handed out before the end of term, so he wasn't expecting much from anyone. Remus, Peter and Sirius had already (in great drama) handed out their gifts. James was quiet pleased with his own selections this year. Grinning, he finished collecting envelopes and handing out owl treats before setting to sort the stack. Pulling out the note from Remus, he tossed it backwards to Sirius who yelped when it bumped him in the shoulder.

"Prat."

Snorting, James ignored his friend's grumblings. Halfway through the stack, he paused and stared down at the familiar writing on the envelope. A self-depreciating smile tugged at his mouth. Even without knowing her handwriting as well as he did, he would have known it was from _her_ by the way his heart leapt into his throat. Ignoring the curious expression on Sirius' face, he stuffed it into his pocket and smiled brightly. Purposely.

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell me."

"So I won't."

Sirius looked to the heaven as if for patience and then waved the opened letter. "Remus has news."

"That makes sense, since he wrote us."

Sirius made a great showing of being abused before relating the new. "The spells he was working on tragically end in spontaneous combustion of wood and caught his robes on fire. Sorry I missed that. He said we'd have to try it again on something a little more… durable. Oh, and Evans ended up staying at Hogwarts."

James frowned, his attention pulled from the possibilities of that spell. "Lily never stays."

"I'm just the messenger!" But his eyes were dark. "You know she grew up next to snivelous. Think she's concerned?"

James considered the words and then shook his head. "No. Even Snape isn't prepared to do something to call attention to his home life. This summer…"

Sirius sat up and frowned at the ceiling. "The attack this summer set the stage. Voldy-wart shouldn't have been willing to draw so much attention to himself. Not with Dumbledore so close."

James set his jaw. There would be some classmates who wouldn't return next year. Shaking off those thoughts – not yet, not now, but _soon_ – he curled his fingers around the message in his pocket and pulled it out. There it was. His name in Lily's Evan's scrawl.

"Might as well read it." Sirius said as he chopped into another cookie. "Get it out of the way. She probably hexed it anyway. Gotta give me time to figure out the counter before your parents come home and laugh at you."

Ruefully agreeing, James cracked open the wax with the tip of his wand and opened the parchment. Reaching up, he adjusted his glasses, reading the message multiple times. There, in Lily's near-perfect writing were two words he had never expected to hear, much less receive in writing. Proof. Tangible proof that something was changing.

'Cease Fire.'

X

Lily's pile of presents was filled with its usual far; a decent collection of Honeydukes Finest chocolates, sugar quills and her personal weakness, Droobles Best Blowing Gum. She supposed her love steamed from a lifetime of blowing bubbles and wishing they would float. Now they did and they were the color of bluebells. Alice had gotten her a few unusual charm tomes and Amelia had tracked her down several very nice quills and a scarf she had been eyes for weeks. The gifts from her parents were the usual (pretty sweaters, a few muggle novels she hid under her mattress and a few extra gallons for her to spend on her own.) Petunia had sent her something that might have once been a vase but had been tortured into something else.

On top of the pile was what was clearly a wedding invitation (that was stuffed out of sight) and a thank you note from Professor Slughorn for his present. She was pleased that he liked it – she had gotten the idea from a drawing she saw in a muggle museum once. It had taken a fair bit of charms and transfiguration to get it right (and an A for McGonagall's extra credit.) But the little fish should last as long as she did. For someone as absent minded as the professor, she felt that was apt.

Satisfied with her haul, she had put everything up, pocketed a few pieces of her gum and cheerfully headed down the stairs. It was later in the morning than she had anticipated sleeping in and she was looking forward to breakfast.

To her surprise (and secret delight) Remus was waiting on her in the common room.

"I thought you would have already eaten?"

Remus shut the book in his hand and smiled. "I thought I'd wait. No real point in eating by yourself on Christmas."

"Thank you."

Remus' smile was amused. "That's what friends do."

'_The best friend I've ever had.'_

Lily eyed him. "I suppose it is."

The great hall looked like it had exploded. Even the previous nights meal hadn't been… quite this much… color. The garlands were a variety of Christmas colors and hung mid-air. Christmas trees were everywhere, including the giant one that nearly reached the ceiling and was charmed to change through the rainbow. The loud popping sound of magical Christmas crackers filled the occasional bought of silence, leaving the scene with a sense of childish chaos that was catching.

Remus leaned forward, lips twitching. "I think they are trying to blind us this morning."

"Are they always this… bright?"

"You haven't seen Dumbledore yet."

Lily managed to turn her laugh into a cough, but just barely. Breakfast was eventful, with so many muggle-borns rushing through the aisles; it seemed louder than the usual breakfast during Term. (Dumbledore was indeed clad in robes so bright you saw spots if you watched him too long.) Full, as satisfied as she thought she could feel away from family, Lily groaned and leaned against the edge of the Gryffindor Table.

"Do they have some way to roll us back to our rooms?"

Remus made a remarkably noise in the back of his throat – something like a groan or a growl. "We should only be so lucky."

Pushing to their feet, they began to long walk back to the Common room.

"You never said what you got this morning."

Remus looked surprised that she asked and smiled a bit bemusedly. "Oh, the usual. James and Sirius were competing to see who could get me the most and the best chocolate. There might have been some reading material included, but I haven't really made it through the chocolate. Peter got me a couple of potions and DADA books I've been wanting that aren't in the library."

Lily raised a brow. "Not in the library?"

Remus grinned a little sheepishly. "I suppose we could say they aren't easily accessible?"

"Ah." Lily nodded. "So those would be the type of thing you'd consider letting a friend borrow sometime during term?"

Remus gave her another one of those inscrutable looks before shrugging. "Sure. I'll let you know when I finish my first read through."

"Thank you."

Watching him from the corner of her eyes – she wondered what he made of her request – she pulled out two pieces of her Droobles Best Blowing Gum and offered him one. Remus blinked stupid for a moment before grinning.

"This stuff was so much fun as a first year."

Lily grinned, chewing noisily. It took some work, but she managed to make and successfully blow a blue bubble that floated cheerfully down the hall. "I love this stuff."

Remus grinned and mimicked her; rolling eyes at her snort at the size of it. Puffing out her cheeks, she carefully blew one the size of his head before letting it go.

"Show off." Remus groused good naturedly.

She grinned and blew another bubble.

X

The first actual sign that Potter and Black had returned as Remus had said they would was the loud explosion from the Common Room. She had been in the middle of working out exactly what she needed to say to both her mother and Petunia in regards to the upcoming nuptials. For a long moment, she listened to the laughter and noise and debated moving down the stairs to join them. Truth said, she was a bit nervous about Potter's reaction to her note. But this was also important.

By the time she managed to congratulate Petunia and word her letter to show the appropriate amount of happiness for sister without sounding strained, the noise was gone. Unwilling to head out to the Owlry just yet, she dug around in her new collection of books and pulled out the Advanced Charms volume from Alice and headed down the stairs. A few hours relaxing in front of the fire before heading outside to walk the ground sounded about what she needed for the afternoon.

The sound of male voices in near hysterical laughter pulled her out of her reading daze just before three of the four Marauders fell through the portrait opening. They staggered into the common room a tumble of half-burned robes and large smiles. Lily bit the corner of her lip to keep from laughing at them. Remus met her gaze and looked sheepish – it appeared whatever had left him so out of sorts yesterday had been repeated for the enjoyment of his friends. She supposed as long as she didn't get word that it had been used on unsuspecting students; she could let this one go.

Potter, in particular, was a mess.

Black was loudly discussing the finer points of the explosion/fire when Potter looked right at her. She curled her fingers into the textbook in her lap. His smile was slow and sparked something along her spine like a well placed heating charm. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a single, plain white handkerchief (that had miraculously survived the spell) and waved it in the air like a little kid. Black was watching with a strange expression on his face. Remus looked surprised.

But it was the expression behind Potter's eyes – a mix of the fierceness of that day in Hogsmeade and the intensity she had witnessed once in the Great Hall – that had her palms breaking into a sweat. He seemed to be searching for someone on her face, some sign that she meant what she had said, understood his own return message.

So Lily smiled at him (really smiled, no gritted teeth) and went back to her charms book, ignoring the way her insides trembled. James Potter had his chance.

So she'd see what he'd do with it.

* * *

_**Please Comment**_

Author Notes:

Yes, I am aware that I have the Marauders coming back from break early. (Some of them, anyway.) We can assume either the Potters worked it out ahead of time, or Dumbledore had it set up where students could come back early due to the growing war. I didn't really go into detail on how they got back, so I either of those would fit.

There is not date for when Petunia marred Vernon (that I could find.) So I took liberties with the sister's relationship and the engagement.


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